The former chief of India's Congress party, Rahul Gandhi said in a video press conference on Thursday that unemployment and food shortage are about get worse in the country and we need "pre-emptive" measures such as the minimum income guarantee scheme "NYAY" (justice) to deal with it.
NYAY is a Congress-proposed social welfare programme that aims to distribute cash to 20 percent of India's poorest families (60 million). The main opposition party had proposed it in their 2019 general election manifesto.
Emphasising that money is not reaching the poor as fast as it should, Rahul said: "Nyay Yojna (justice scheme) … direct money should be put in the accounts of the 20 percent of the poorest people. We need these pre-emptive measures. The weaker section of society is about to face even greater problems. The government should prepare a minimum financial net".
The Indian government has rolled out a relief package worth $22.36 billion for migrant workers, women, and the poor. This includes depositing $6.50 (INR500), an ex-gratia payment, in the accounts of nearly 40 million women account holders as per the government's Jan Dhan scheme.
Rahul said the process of unemployment has begun and it will hit harder. The party had earlier called upon the government to declare a bold economic stimulus package of 5 to 6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
“The government should prepare a defensive and protective package for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that provide employment to large numbers of people. Companies that are large and strategic should also be protected", the former party chief said.
Talking about the shortage of food, Rahul asked government to utilise the buffer stock of essential food items.
“Food shortage is likely and I urge the government to use the excessive food stock for the poor. Many do not have ration cards, use it for them too. We need a safety net for food", he suggested.
This is not the first time that the party has hit out at the Modi government. Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi had in video conference of party committee members, castigated Prime Minister Modi for “implementing a lockdown in a manner that it disrupted the lives of the common man and migrant labourers”. Congress has now asked the government to come up with a strategy on lifting the lockdown "strategically".
Meanwhile, India has extended the 21-day lockdown provision, which was supposed to end on 14 April, to 3 May. This has raised concerns about daily wage earners and the economic loss for the country. Nevertheless, the government has issued guidelines to open industrial zones in a restrictive manner to "mitigate hardship of the public".
The order issued by the government on Wednesday clearly mentioned that manufacturing and other industrial establishments with access control will be allowed in Special Economic Zones, industrial estates, and industrial townships starting 20 April.
The country has 12,380 COVID-19 cases and has reported 414 deaths so far. Nearly 1,488 people have been cured and discharged.
